Making a Difference
by Phoebe Halliwell
Summary: Oneshot, NO SLASH. A story all about friendship and how the smallest of actions can have the biggest effect without you even realising it.


**Making a Difference**

By Phoebe Halliwell

Draco Malfoy one of the popular kids at Hogwarts High was casually walking home from school on his own, glad of the rest bite from his gossiping cheerleader girlfriend Pansy Parkinson and his football player friends Blaise, Greg and Vince.

It was a Friday afternoon and Draco had a moderately busy weekend ahead of him, he had two parties to attend and tomorrow afternoon he was due to go and have a friendly game of football with a few of his fellow team mates. It couldn't really be counted as practice as the coach wasn't there but they would be playing and Pansy and a few other of the cheerleaders would be there to watch them.

It was as he was pondering over his plans for the next couple of days that he spotted another boy across the road, he did look vaguely familiar but he couldn't place it, Draco assessed him and guessed him about his own age. He had dark ebony hair and glasses from what Draco could see. He was short and scrawny for his age and he was struggling with a huge mound of books. The teen was carrying them all as his bag was already crammed full.

Draco didn't know anyone who took home all their books on a Friday, mainly because he didn't associate himself with nerds that actually did all of the homework that was assigned. He watched as a jogger who wasn't really paying that much attention knocked into him by mistake and as a result knocked all the books from his arms. The jogger didn't stop, just mumbled an apology and kept going, headphones blaring in his ear as he went on his merry way.

Draco considered just walking on by, forgetting about the incident that he no doubt would have done in two minutes or at least as soon as he walked through the front door but as he passed he saw the look of desperation in this kids eyes.

It was then that Draco recognized the teen, it was Harry from some his classes, he was the boy who sat at the back, did all the work and didn't really say very much or socialise with anyone. He had only just been added to their year at the start of the school year.

The impact he had had with the jogger had not only dislodged Harry's books from his arms but his glasses had also gone flying and were now a few feet in front of him. He watched as Harry searched for them blindly on his hands and knees. Feeling sorry for him Draco crossed the road and handed him his glasses. As Draco gave them he saw a terrible sadness in Harry's brilliantly emerald eyes.

"Here, are you okay?" Draco asked as Harry took his glasses and slipped them back on while they both gathered together his books.

"Thank you" Harry mumbled as they both got to their feet, there was a big smile on his face, relief that someone had found it in their heart to help him. It struck Draco that it was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude, as if things like this didn't happen very often to him.

"Where do you live?" Draco asked casually, as it turned out they only lived a street apart, so Draco helped Harry to carry his books as far as the top of his street before handing the five he had been carrying back.

They had talked all the way and as it turned out Harry had gone to private school before now and that was why he had only just been enrolled at Hogwarts and it was also the reason why Draco hadn't seen him around that much.

"If you don't have any plans tomorrow, do you want to come and play football with me and a few friends?" Draco asked before Harry could disappear off down his street, Harry accepted this proposal and they arranged when and where to meet the following day.

The two of them plus Draco's friends hung out together all weekend and by the end of it they all excepted Harry as one of the gang, when Monday morning rolled around again Draco caught up with Harry on the way to school carrying all of his books again.

"You know your going to build up some serious muscle with carrying all these books every day." Draco said with a friendly grin as he took his share of them to help. Harry just laughed.

Over the course of the year they all became seriously close; Harry began to date a girl in the year below him called Ginny and began to properly fit in to school life, becoming more and more confident with each passing day.

Harry's grades excelled way passed any of his friends and they just couldn't understand it, he went to all the parties and came out with them everyday, even saw Ginny around the times when they weren't together and yet he still managed to excel in all his classes.

By the time it was time to graduate Harry, who had received the best marks in the year, was asked to give a speech in front of parents, teachers and the graduating students, Draco, Ginny, Pansy, Vince, Blaise and Greg all joked and teased him about how nerdy it was to make a speech in front of the whole year but they supported him none-the-less when he decided to do it.

Everyone was gathered in the assembly hall on the day, they fell silent as Harry began to deliver the speech that he hadn't even so much as showed Draco once while writing it.

Over the course of the year Harry had grown up and filled out, his glasses really suited him now and half the girls in school fancied him, which made Ginny both very popular and the envy of most of the girls in school.

Everyone could tell that Harry was nervous about his speech but no one laughed, they didn't dare, Harry had become one of those kids that every one liked, not because he was a bully or because he was in with the right crowd but because he was so caring and friendly.

"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it though all those tough years, even though I was only here for a year of it I'm still going to thank you all." Harry began. "

"I'm going to thank Parents, teachers, siblings, coaches, but most importantly I'm going to thank my friends. Being a good friend is the best gift that any person can ever give to someone." Harry said. "I was asked to say congratulations to you all today but instead of doing that I'm going to tell you a story."

So Harry began to tell them all a story, it was about the day he had first met Draco and it touched each and every persons heart. He told them about how he had planed to commit suicide that weekend; he told them how he had cleared out his locker at school so that his mum wouldn't have to do it.

He had been carrying all his stuff home when Draco had crossed the road to help him, at this point of the story Harry looked to Draco who was sitting only a few seats away from his parents and smiled. It was the same smile that he had given him on the day that they had met, a smile that showed real gratitude.

"Thankfully a friend saved me; he saved me from doing the unspeakable." There had been an instant gasp that went through the students, teachers and parents that stood listening to Harry when he had told them of what his plans had been, muttered words that he couldn't catch were spreading throughout the students but he didn't care.

He had shared with them all his weakest moment, Harry could see his parents looking at Draco with looks of such gratitude, it wasn't until that moment that Draco realised the dept of what he had done on that day nearly a year ago.

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Don't forget to leave me a review. Phoebe. xxxxx 


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